Advances in technology have provided advances in imaging capabilities for medical use. One area that has enjoyed some of the most beneficial advances may be that of endoscopic surgical procedures because of the advances in the components that make up an endoscope. Conventional endoscopes used in, e.g., arthroscopy and laparoscopy are designed such that the image sensors are placed at the proximal end of the device, within the hand-piece unit. In such a configuration, the endoscope unit should transmit the incident light along its length toward the sensor via a complex set of precisely coupled optical components, with minimal loss and distortion. The cost of the endoscope unit may be dominated by the optics, since the components are expensive and the manufacturing process may be labor intensive. Furthermore, this type of scope may be mechanically delicate and relatively minor impacts can easily damage the components or upset the relative alignments thereof. This necessitates frequent, expensive repair cycles in order to maintain image quality.
What may be needed are methods and systems for providing reduced area image sensors for endoscopic medical use that may be capable of maintaining high quality video streams in reduced light environments. Reducing the area of the sensor allows it to be located at the distal end of the endoscope, therefore greatly reducing cost. This introduces the possibility of single-use endoscopes, requiring no repair or sterilization cycles. Alternatively they may be disassembled after and have some of their components recycled.
As may be seen, the disclosure provides methods and systems that can do this in an efficient and elegant manner that will be disclosed herein and will be further enabled by the discussion in the specification and the accompanying figures.